Sandrine Rousseau, you are a French economist, writer, and politician; the former spokesperson for Europe Ecology – The Greens (EÉLV) which you left in 2017 and re-joined in 2020. Now you run for the environmentalists' primary as a candidate for the presidential election of 2022. You are mostly interested in the economy and the environment, focusing on social and environmental inequalities. Your candidature is supported by actresses, such as Salomé Lelouch, dancer, and director Andréa Bescond, singer and actress Lio, and other well-known French women. What are the three main points you want to achieve with your candidacy? I present my candidacy as carrying ecofeminism. I indeed wish to highlight the links that existed between the predation of women, of the dominated bodies in general, and of nature. My first measures will be protective measures: economic protection with a guaranteed basic income, so that no one falls into great poverty and that no one is afraid of the future. Protection of nature through strong measures such as the prohibition of concrete construction or even giving a price to the carbon that escapes into the atmosphere. Democratic protection with the launch of a reform of the constitution. Democracy is what protects us collectively the best, and in this reform, the guarantee of the rights of minorities will be a priority. In France, these rights, our freedoms, are strongly diminishing at this moment. What is your stance regarding ecology in general – do you consider and fight for 'deep ecology' according to the Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess or 'shallow ecology' by the French philosopher Luc Ferry. The core theme of deep ecology is the claim that all living beings and things have the same right to live and flourish, whereas shallow ecology puts human's interests before other beings. How do you assess the state of nature's rights in France, what is done, what needs to be done? I do not wish to lock myself in a particular current of thought but I do think on the other hand that human activities must absolutely be limited by a certain number of natural rules. We cannot cut, sell wood if it generates deforestation. It is simple but today it is not the case. For instance, we have to decide how many forest areas we need to make carbon sinks and then regulate the timber trade. For animals, in French law, they have no rights today. They can be mistreated and exploited as much as we wish. We have to get out of this, to respect animal welfare and their sensitivity. However, you don't fight only for ecology but also for women's rights and against gender-based and sexual violence since it is something you experienced yourself in EÉLV party from which you withdraw in 2017. The same year you founded Assocation Parler, promoting mutual aid between victims of sexual violence as part of the MeToo movement and you also wrote a book Speak: (of) Sexual violence to end the law of silence (2019). What is the main message of your book and Assocation Parler? You also fought for your justice in court and won – can you please tell us more about that too? When I denounced the sexual assault I suffered within my political party, we were a year before #metoo. Of course, I did not know what a huge fight against sexual violence would be, but after my speech, I nevertheless felt, how women are fed up. They no longer wanted to go through this, I felt them ready to fight, to speak, to radically change things. This is also one of the reasons for my candidacy today. I think we have to literally take the power to make that change. Of course, this is not my only reason for running in the presidential election. I am an economist, I have been working on my research in the field of ecology and inequalities for 20 years. I have plenty of things to say in this election. Violence against women is one of the important issues. And not just as a line of a program but as an embodiment of the fact that it is no longer possible to abuse women, that today it is no longer possible to silence them or to make them invisible. How much is your feminist politics based on an important French female intellectuals, such as Simone de Beauvoir, Hélène Cixous, Julia Kristeva. I also have great respect for French historians, such as Georges Duby who wrote about eminent French historical and fictional women and co-edited four volumes about History of Women In the West (from Ancient to Modern time). I am a researcher. So when I tackle a topic I'm starting by reading and listening to the research on the subject. It's a sort of professional deformation! I really like the writings of Geroge Duby but we must not forget that he wrote them with Michelle Perrot! Moreover, the feminist movements are starting to organize themselves around my candidacy. Several activists, but also several intellectuals see my candidate as a possibility to shake up something. Little by little, the idea that a feminist president would change things profoundly took hold. After all, France has some intellectual and historical figures who took an interest in the place of women very early on. But the political system remains very closed. We will have to mobilize all social categories to succeed. How is the fight for women's rights connected to the lesbian and bisexual women who especially lack visibility and representation in politics and are also prone to hate, violence and poverty? Do you think it is enough done for the rights of homosexual women and LGBTIQ people in France? LGBTIQ people are regularly subjected to discrimination and violence. The latest example was the march for the visibility of lesbians held on Saturday, April 24th which was attacked by far-right activists. Alice Coffin who plays a very important role in France in the fight against LGBTphobias is my supporter. She is currently cyber harassed after asking for legal aid for assisted reproduction. We must step up the fight against all forms of violence and achieve equality for all. Not a principle of equality but real equality under the law. In France, lesbianism has emerged as a theoretical dialogue in the work of several French feminists. In the late 1970s, a group of French feminists loosely aligned with the Mouvement de libération des femmes (MLF) began to forge a theoretical practice around the notion of aféminité that opposed the masculine bias present in Western modes of thought. Writers such as Marguerite Duras, Marguerite Yourcenar, Monique Wittig and especially, Hélène Cixous created what has become known as »l'écriture féminine«, or writing by/of/for women. I mentioned them because you also write detective novels with strong women while trying to avoid gender-biased codes. Is there any similar intellectual literature feminist and lesbian movement today and does your writing follow the suit of the aforementioned writers? We take great care in all of our campaign publications to use non-discriminatory writing. Myself, as you said, I deconstructed the stereotypes in my writings. It will also make a difference in the way you make women visible. You are also the vice-president of the University of Lille where you teach environmental economics, domestic jobs, and corporate social responsibility. Since 2008 you have been also a vice-president in charge of »Student life, Campus life/sustainable development and gender equality« of the university. Can you explain more about your work and how does it connect with your politics? As a researcher, I work on the compatibility of our economic and social system with planetary and human constraints. How can we ensure that our economy does not destroy the planet? Should we believe in technical progress only? Or should we change our social relationships to a better respect for the environment? I think that we have to deeply review our social and economic organization if we want to build a serene future. Some of this Biden does a bit since he is in power; he tackles ecological and social issues head-on in order to reassure the population while taking strong measures such as the summit of the earth. How much corona time affects women, lesbian and bisexual women and students? These populations are very hard hit by the coronavirus crisis. They are even more isolated, locked up than usual and many people in France have symptoms of depression or distress. This also applies to people with disabilities or the elderly, in short, all people who have personal and social vulnerability. President Emmanuel Macron has not taken this into account at all in his measures and we risk paying a very high price for this indifference. This is why we need a president of the sensitive republic! I hope I am not being 'silly' by asking you this question. I watched an excellent French TV series Baron Noir where someone can learn how the French revolution is the origin of the modern French Republic and how the French revolution became the role model of the modern democracy with philosophers like J. J. Rousseau and historians like J. Michelet, the first historian to use and define the word Renaissance is a period in Europe's cultural history. In this series, you learn that ideas, concepts, and thinking are very important for the art of governance and government and you learn the importance of secularity. I also loved the series with its portrayal of strong, intelligent, and pragmatic women and there is also a minor lesbian character. Have you perhaps watched or heard about it and if yes, how much is the series true to nowadays French politics and the Greens you represent? Of course I saw the Baron Noir series. It is very interesting how politics works. But it emphasizes negotiations and malignancies. I am a more honest, simpler political woman. I think this series shows a policy from the past, French style, but the future seems to me to be in another way: closer to the people, less strategist, more sincere. Thank you very much! I root for you – best of luck! Katarina Majerhold
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